When hubs and I first moved to Arizona he didn’t immediately have a job. He rustled up all kinds of side-gigs, though, including buying/selling stuff online (which can be quite lucrative if you’re good at it), working security at fraternity parties and clubs, doing random odd jobs that mostly included manual labor (e.g., wheel barrowing rocks from the front of a house to the back, laying flagstone, etc.). Early that first semester a new grad school friend asked what my hubs did and I told her, “He hustles!” Her eyes got all wide, “Really!?! Like…he sells drugs???” LOL!!! Apparently I’m not gangster enough to realize that “hustlin’” is a slang term for slinging drugs. I laughed and explained myself – “No, husband doesn’t sell drugs! He just does a ton of random things right now to earn an income!!!”

But I still like to think of the term (hustlin’) as referring to working your butt off to try to make money (through legal means, of course)!

So, all this to say…I’ve been trying to figure out some ways to hustle up some extra income for myself.

Initially I thought I might try to apply for other online teaching jobs. But after discovering how well paid I am compared to other online teaching institutions, I didn’t think it’d be a sound investment of my limited time. A better use would be to continue trying to beef up my research program, publish, and land a better long-term position (more on that discussion in this post).

But in the meantime…what could I hustle up?

Well, I’d love if I could do more work for my current online teaching university (since their compensation is more than fair). The problem is that I’ve been trying to get extra classes from them for over a year at this point and every time I’ve been granted an extra section, it’s been canceled due to low enrollment. I haven’t been able to get new classes altogether because the instructors have been hanging onto their classes (no surprise since everywhere else pays peanuts in comparison).

So I emailed my boss today with a novel idea.

“Hey – what if I developed an entirely new course for the department? I have a great idea for one that I honestly think would be a valuable asset to the program and, as luck would have it, it just happens to be my own area of expertise! wink, wink!”

(Side note: obviously my tone was more professional, but that’s the gist)

Annnnnd, I received a pretty prompt reply:

“As for your question about a [redacted] class – you are correct, no such course exists in our curriculum. The idea of developing one is outside of my direct control – as it would need to be something the department deemed appropriate and worthwhile. That said, I know they are always considering additions to the curriculum as appropriate and possible. Let me float the idea around the department and see if this is something they’d be interested it. It may be that developing it for [online dissemination] would be a nice way to make it available to students across our campuses. Let me think on this and get back to you.”

YEAH, BABY!!!

I mean, let’s not get all excited and count our chickens before the eggs have hatched! But I would just LOVE if I had the opportunity to create this class. Not only is it an area I’m passionate about, but then I’d be able to add a 3rd class to my online teaching portfolio! Hello extra money, get in my bank account (False. You won’t be in my account long enough because you’ll be busy paying down my debts). You get the point.

So there you have it. Just putting out feelers, planting seeds of ideas, and trying to hustle up a little extra cash. Now, let me get back to grading. I have exactly one week between Spring and Summer sessions and I plan to use my entire 3 preschool days being CRAZY PRODUCTIVE with research. If I say it, it will happen. And all that good stuff. ; )

It’s that time of year…..hiring season is here! Really, I should say application season is here (hiring tends to take place later in the year).

For those in academia, you may be familiar with the process. When universities are hiring a new professor, they often tend to have application deadlines between October-January. Hiring can occur at any time of year, but this tends to be the most concentrated time. The typical process goes as such….

Applications due October 15th (or November 1st, or December 15th, etc.). During the first round, applications get sorted through and some are “rejected” while others are held. The held copies get sorted through and organized by preference. Generally the top 2-3 people are contacted for interviews (often over the phone first, then in person), and the best man or woman wins! ; )

I’ve seen offers made as early as mid-October (for positions starting the following August), and as late as late-May (for a position starting that August).

What this means for me is that I’ll be busy-busy-busy with applications up to my eyeballs soon.

I’m taking a little different approach this year than I did last year. Last year my #1 goal, above all else, was to get back to Austin (where both my husband and I are from and most of our immediate family reside). I was applying for all kinds of jobs that weren’t even close to my area of expertise out of desperation. I thought, “it doesn’t hurt to try!”

Well we all know what good that did for me….a lotta nothin’.

This year I’m taking a different approach.

I remain firm in my decision to be selective about where I apply (instead of applying all over the country). I am open to only 3 areas: my current area (Tucson/Phoenix), the greater Austin area (from Waco down through San Marcos…maybe San Antonio), and the central Utah area. That’s it. (For new readers, I also have family in Utah).

However, instead of just applying indiscriminately for anything and everything, I’m going to be more selective. I spend a lot of time on each application. I research the faculty, their interests, their publications, the department, the culture (as much as is possible from a website), etc. etc. etc. I’m going to reserve my precious time to only apply for those jobs that are actually a good “fit” for me. Of course, it sounds so obvious, but I have applied for so many willy-nilly jobs just out of desperation to get back to Austin that I wasted a lot of time on things that – even if they had been offered to me – I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed and may not have even accepted. Why do this to myself?

So instead of applying to 15-20 places (like I did last hiring season), maybe I’ll apply to 4 or 5. Who knows? It depends what jobs come up. One was just posted with an October 15th deadline that sounds perfect for me, so we’ll see what happens.

I just wanted to give you all a heads up about my job searching situation and also to let you know what was going on in case I’m a bit scarce from time-to-time. These applications take a lot of time and attention (on top of my other work responsibilities and general life stuff). Of course, I love blogging here and checking in with you guys so I’m sure content will remain pretty regular. Just wanted to give you guys a little update.